Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a re-watch.Hollywood iconoclast Oliver Stone took home his first Academy Award for his screenplay to this film, an adaptation of Billy Hayes’ 1977 memoir.
Midnight Express recounts Hayes’ actual stay in a Turkish prison. In 1970, Hayes rather unwisely tried to smuggle hash out of the country, resulting in his conviction by a Turkish court, and sentencing to stay in a draconian prison.
There, he befriends a handful of foreigners while enduring daily beatings and torture at the hands of the sadistic guards. Billy also engages in homoerotic relationships with his fellow prisoners, occasionally flirting with full-blown sex.In the.